Due to rising concerns for environmental issues and higher gasoline prices, research and development of electric vehicles have received increased attention.
Conventional lithium ion batteries, however, cannot meet the requirements of high capacity, high power, and fast charging. In order to improve the properties of conventional lithium ion batteries, novel anode materials for replacing graphite material are desired.
Due to the superior electronic conductivity and the porous structure, electrons and lithium ion have high transport/diffusion mobility within a graphene layer. Further, due to the irregular structure of the graphene, the graphene has a higher capacity in comparison with the graphite. Due to the high irreversible capacity and low conductivity, the commercialization of lithium ion batteries employing the graphene electrode, however, cannot be achieved.